The heat is searing. A hectic work day, an argument or a cold war with a colleague or the higher authorities fouls our good temperament. The local commute home squeezes the last ounce of positivity from the best of us. The markets are eternally crowded. The humidity ensures that our crisply ironed clothes look like muck by the end of the day. We find it difficult to hire an auto rickshaw! Life is tough…….we know this well. But are the efforts worth our while? Negative thoughts plague us as we slowly trudge our way home with heavy footsteps.

Home! Such a welcome place! Why do we always look forward to going to our homes after a hard day’s work? We wonder as we plod on. The laptop hangs heavily around our shoulders. We can feel the weariness in our bodies.

We get a whiff of incense, can hear tinkling bells, and can smell the fragrance of camphor………..a beautiful rangoli, fresh Torans and sanctified water greet us and suddenly all our fatigue vanishes.

These simple traditions have been created with a lot of foresight, wisdom, and insight. We cannot measure or gauge the impact that they have on us with an instrument. But we know for sure that they make a lot of difference in our daily lives. They fill us with positive energy and set the tone for our day every single day. 

How does the rangoli create a positive atmosphere?

Rangolis are created using rice powder and the patterns are created well before the sun rises in the morning and before the sun sets in the evenings. On festive occasions, flowers and leaves are also used to create elaborate rangolis.

 The person leaving the home is filled with positive energy when he sees something so beautiful and intricate. He is filled with love because his mother or grandmother or sister has put in so much time and effort to create this kind of positive atmosphere for the family members.The door step is also decorated. When we gingerly step around these patterns, we subconsciously learn to sidestep our challenges and appreciate the beauty embedded within our lives. We appreciate the fact that it takes a lot of effort to create something beautiful in our lives. The women who create such intricate patterns learn patience. The dots and the curves and the weaves and the endless knotted patterns symbolize the fact that life may well be full of ups and downs for all of us. But we can see the beauty of our lives only after we connect all the dots – just like the rangoli.

And at an extremely physical level, the rice powder that is used to create the rangoli becomes the food for the tiny ants and other insects who feed on it. When they get an abundance of food outside our homes, they will not look for it inside our homes. And we are taking care of other creatures by using rice powder.

Rangolis are an ingenious and effective way of ensuring that the atmosphere is filled with positivity so much so that even visitors paying us a casual visit enter our homes with positive vibes. 

Why do we hang Torans above our doorstep?

A Toran is usually a garland made of fresh marigold flowers and mango leaves. It is pinned above the door using tiny nails and they also hang down like garlands along the sides of the door. Other flowers like kewra and leaves like neem may also be used. But fundamentally, the green leaves symbolize abundance. They purify the air because they remove the carbon dioxide from the air around it and replace it with oxygen. The yellow and orange marigold flowers symbolize abundance. As they slowly dry out, insects feed on it and therefore do not enter our homes.

What does a Kalash symbolize?

The Kalash is a brass or silver pot shaped vessel which is filled with water. Mango leaves are placed all around the rim of this Kalash and a dry coconut is placed on top of these mango leaves. 

The water in the Kalash represents Amrit or nectar, the elixir of life. It symbolically represents abundance, wisdom, and immortality. The green mango leaves symbolize love and fertility and the coconut which is a cash crop represents prosperity and power.

On festive occasions when we create elaborate rangolis and decorate our homes with Torans and create a Kalash for special prayer sessions involving all our family members – it means we are all working together collectively to create a beautiful positive atmosphere within our homes and hearts.

No wonder we always yearn for the comfort of our homes. A lot of thought, time and efforts are invested by other caring family members to create a peaceful positive atmosphere within our homes. The serene ambience dispels and neutralizes all the negative energy that we bring in from the outside world. We feel refreshed and are filled with positive vibes every single day because such tiny cultural traditions are religiously followed by the women of our family. Let’s thank our ancestors for passing on such beautiful traditions to all of us.